The late Stephen Hawking often expressed concern for the future of the human species, with AI as our nemesis. Inventor and futurist, Ray Kurzweil, sees a utopian future. While futurists hypothesize away, entrepreneurs, executives and government leaders must navigate regardless. Entrepreneur and industrialist Christian Stadil, co-founder of Danish conglomerate Thornico Group, seeks “Buddhist middle paths.”

While in Copenhagen, I had the opportunity to spend an hour discussing Stadil’s journey building Thornico Group, and much more. We explored topics from leadership, creativity and “company karma” (a concept Stadil applies across his enterprises) to virtual reality, artificial intelligence and the future of humanity. Along the way, he touched on Picasso, Kierkegaard, Voltaire, women’s rights in Afghanistan, even immortality and sustainability. (Read the full Forbes interview here.)

Lone Frank got tired of killing rats. Following her doctorate in neurobiology, she realized her first love was outside the lab, considering how science and technology might impact our lives.

On March 22nd, Insight Venture Partners convened its Insight IGNITE Innovation Roundtable in Iceland. Today we're sharing the first of three interviews shot on location, in Iceland at the Blue Lagoon, site of the roundtable. We start with Emmet B. Keeffe III, Venture Partner at Insight Venture Partners, and 3 Billion Seconds host Rob Wolcott as they explore Emmet's journey from becoming an entrepreneur, to Formula 1 fanaticism, being early versus being right, to Emmet's three words to describe the future.

“You can look at your life as the result of the past or the cause of the future.” Clearly, Brian Collins prefers the future, while seeking inspiration from the past. Having gotten to know Brian over the past five years, I’ve often been privy to the translations, digressions and inspirations he’s able to generate living at intersections of time, space, reality and fantasy.

For our most recent installment of 3 Billion Seconds, Collins and host Rob Wolcott discuss the future amidst his literary menagerie, and explore what makes great brands great, creative processes and living with “one foot in the pragmatic and one in the fantastical.”

Slava Rubin knows what he’s talking about. Co-founder of Indiegogo, Rubin was rejected by 93 venture firms before successfully creating the first major crowdfunding platform. Today, the platform generates funding, ideas and insights for everyone from entrepreneurs and artists to global corporations. Over $1 billion has been raised through Indiegogo since inception.

Join host Rob Wolcott as he sits down with Slava to discuss the future and past of crowdfunding, ICOs, some of the most compelling stories that emerged on Indiegogo, and the lessons he's learned from them.

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Esther Dyson

"You're not stupid if you take that first marshmallow"

In this wide-ranging interview, host Rob Wolcott talks with Esther Dyson about the future of health, addiction, AI, fake news and retirement on Mars.

Join us as host Rob Wolcott speaks with Beth Comstock—most recently Vice Chair of General Electric—about story-makers, story-tellers, and the coming century of change.

For decades Beth Comstock’s has displayed an incredible ability to discover and champion new visions ahead of the market—but not too far ahead. Relevant business foresight requires not only reading weak signals and various plausible futures, but also determining when to act. The GE team has led awareness and action on many fronts—from Ecomagination to Healthymagination to Digital Twins— in the ten years since I first met Beth.